1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flashlight and, more specifically, to the pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement for flashlight.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1 and 2 show an aluminum alloy flashlight constructed according to the prior art. According to this design, the flashlight comprises a barrel 70 holding a set of battery cells on the inside and a lamp assembly on the front side, a hollow cylindrical pushbutton 10 mounted in the rear open chamber of the barrel 70, the pushbutton 10 has an outward flange 101 extended around the periphery of the front side, a conical spring 60 supported between the negative terminal of the set of battery cells inside the barrel 70 and the front side of the pushbutton 10, an electrically insulating sleeve 20 sleeved onto the pushbutton 10, the insulating sleeve 20 having an outward flange 201 extended around the periphery of the front side and supported on the outward flange 101 of the pushbutton 10, a hollow rear cap 40 threaded into the rear open side of the barrel 70, and a compression spring 30 sleeved onto the sleeve 20 and stopped between the outward flange 201 of the sleeve 20 and the front side of the rear cap 40. Further, the pushbutton 10 is a hollow structure having an inside space for holding a spare lamp bulb 50. When assembled, the rear cap 40 is fastened tight, and the pushbutton 10 partially extends out of the rear cap 40 for operation. The spring force of the conical spring 60 surpasses the spring force of the compression spring 30. Therefore, the conical spring 60 imparts a backward pressure to the pushbutton 10, keeping the pushbutton 10 away from the step 701 of the barrel 70, and therefore the circuit of the flashlight is off (see FIG. 2). When the user pressed the pushbutton 10 to conquer the spring force of the conical spring 60, the outward flange 101 of the pushbutton 10 is forced into contact with the step 701 of the barrel 70 to close the circuit, and therefore the flashlight is turned on (see FIG. 3). When the user loosened the rear cap 40 as shown in FIG. 4, the pushbutton 10 is hidden in the rear cap 40, preventing triggering of the pushbutton 10 accidentally.
This design of flashlight is still not satisfactory in function. Because the springs 30 and 60 are constantly maintained against each other, they wear quickly with use. When the springs 30 and 60 start to wear, the electric contact becomes unstable, and the lamp bulb may flash abnormally. When keeping the lamp bulb electrically connected, the user must keep the pushbutton 10 depressed.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a flashlight that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.
The present invention has been accomplished to provide a pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement for flashlight, which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement for flashlight, which keeps the lamp bulb of the flashlight constantly electrically connected when the rear cap fastened tight. It is another object of the present invention to provide a pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement for flashlight, which enables the pushbutton to be moved between two positions to turn on/off the flashlight when the rear cap loosened. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement for flashlight, which is durable in use. According to the present invention, the pushbutton and rear cap mounting arrangement is comprised of an electrically conducting barrel holding a series of battery cells and a lamp holder on the front side of the battery cells, the barrel having a rear open chamber and a stepped inside wall in the rear open chamber, an electrically conducting pushbutton supported on an electrically conducting conical spring at the negative terminal of the battery cells, the pushbutton having an annular contact flange extended around the periphery of the front side thereof and adapted to contact the stepped inside wall of the barrel in the rear open chamber, an electrically insulating sleeve sleeved onto the pushbutton, the sleeve having an annular flange extended around the periphery of the front side thereof and supported on the annular contact flange of the pushbutton, and an electrically conducting hollow rear cap threaded into the rear open chamber of the barrel around the sleeve and rotated forwards/backwards between a first position where the pushbutton is locked in xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d position to close the circuit of the flashlight, and a second position where the pushbutton is unlocked and supported in xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d position to open the circuit of the flashlight and the user can push the pushbutton with the thumb to xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d position to turn on the flashlight when desired.